Oh to be young
by todo-mahem
Summary: [AU Sherlock Holmes/John Watson M/M - HighschoolAU/TeenagersAU] John Watson is a new transfer student at Baker Street Academy, 16 and coming from a broken home. Sherlock Holmes is a weird kid who loves Bee's. Ensue!


_Oh To Be Young series_

Chapter One: 17 Steps

John Watson wasn't a stranger to being put out. In fact, he'd become quite accustomed to it in recent years. Harry could attest to that. His dads death, his mother's drinking and even his sister, Harry, blatantly bringing home what she referred to as '_totally-shag-worthy_' strangers every other night added up to a well-developed poker face.

And yet, John found himself feeling quite nauseous and out of depth, more so than ever before, as he felt the eyes of the fifteen other teenagers in the room settle on him.

"Everyone," The teacher, an older woman with motherly features, warm soft eyes and light brown hair which was greying at the roots interrupted the quiet chatter, bringing on a hushed quiet as she indicated to John where he stood trying to blend into the classroom door.

"This is John Watson, our new transfer student." Her beaming smile distracted John from the curios looks and he felt himself twitching out a small one in return. "My name is Mrs Hudson and I will be your home room teacher!"

Not quite knowing what to say or do John just nodded his acceptance which caused a few snorts of laughter to sound up from the room.

Nonplussed, Mrs Hudson continued.

"John dear, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?" Another soft smile. This one John didn't return.

Swallowing down the rising bile at the question he had been dreading, John turned to face the room properly and looked at the faces before him.

"Right. Well…" John muttered, trying to steel his nerves and flinching slightly at the tremor that ran up his left leg. Ignoring it, John tried again.

"Hi. I'm John." There, nailed it, John thought to himself, wincing at how ridiculous he sounded. "I'm sixteen. I liked playing football. My… My Dad was in the army so we moved around a lot and now my family has decided to stay in London, so… yeah…" John trailed off, not really knowing what else to say.

The blank faces in front of him looked only slightly interested, some had already put their heads back down or turned back to their friends to continue their interrupted conversations.

With a blinding smile Mrs Hudson clapped to herself as she swept towards John, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and walking him forward into the classroom.

"Wonderful John, you will fit right in I know it!"

"Yeah…" John managed, feeling his cheeks heat at the attention.

"Right, so there is only one free desk at the moment, right up the back, there you go, off you pop." Mrs Hudson indicated to the back of the classroom to empty desk situated in the back row, one row in from the window. It was placed in between a portly young boy, with short dark hair, a mousy face and glasses and in the window seat another boy who was pointedly staring out of the window, his gangly body slouched in his chair, hands under his chin, most of his face covered by an unruly mop of black curly hair.

As John marched down the aisle he felt eyes on him, meeting a few, a pale girl with glasses who practically squeeked and went crimson at the eye contact, a sporty looking guy who nodded in greeting before his friend distracted him with something in a magazine, and a girl with dark brown skin and black ringlets in her hair who glared at him something shocking, causing him to walk a little faster past her.

John made it to his seat with a quiet sigh, breathing in relief that he was at the back of the room, the boy to his right leaned over and smiled happily at him, bright pink cheeks puffing in delight.

"Hello John!" His smile got bigger somehow, John thought. "I'm Mike, Mike Stamford. Brilliant to meet you!"

"Hi Mike." John replied, reaching out a hand for Mike who shook it enthusiastically, beaming all the while.

"Great, wonderful!" Mike exclaimed. "I'm sure we will be great friends."

John couldn't help but smile at that, nodding to show his agreement. Noticing Mike's gaze flicker over his shoulder, John turned to look into the dark eyes of the boy sitting to his left.

The dark eyes narrowed, causing a moment of unease to rise in John as he felt as if he was being examined.

"Uh… Hello?" John said, tilting his head to the side as he tried to figure out the harsh look he was receiving.

The eyes slid down, gazing over Johns body, staring pointedly at his hands that were now clasped together on the desk in front of him, before looking back up to John's eyes.

"Hello." The voice was cool and unapologetic in the least.

Feeling nervous at the scrutiny, John felt his eyes flicker back to Mike who was also looking a little nervous.

"Uhm, John, this is-" Mike began, before the other boy interjected.

"Sherlock Holmes." A lithe hand flicked out from under the pale chin where it had rested before reaching out to grab John's left one where it was clenching his other on the desk.

Startled, John flinched, feeling a shudder course through his arm and noticing how Sherlock's eyes narrowed further.

"Interesting…" Sherlock muttered to himself, once more raking his eyes over John.

"W-What is?" John breathed, trying his best to sort out this situation.

Frowning slightly, Sherlock met John's eyes. "You said you _liked_ playing football."

"I… what? What do my hobbies have to do with… whatever _this_ is?" John spluttered, confusion adding to the already flustered feeling that he felt.

Sherlock went quiet, staring at John once more with cold eyes before nodding to himself and letting go of John's hand, turning back to the front of the room, his eyes following Mrs Hudson as she fussed about with a tea kettle she had produced from her bag.

"I… I don't…" John mumbled, turning to Mike who only shrugged in confusion before turning back to the book sitting on his desk that he had been reading before.

"Right." John said, his mind racing. What did he mean by asking about football? Maybe, John thought, he was trying to ask about hobbies to see if they had a common interest!

"Oh!" John whispered, turning back to Sherlock who blinked and raised an eye brow at him, diverting his attention from where it had been focused on Mrs Hudson's tea making instead of class teaching.

"Do you like football then?" John asked smiling in what he hoped was a friendly way.

Sherlock only frowned, tilting his head in his hands. "Football?"

"Umm, yes! Or, well, any sports for that matter… basketball maybe?" John suggested.

Sherlock only stared at him.

"Or, say… hobbies?" John finished lamely.

Pursing his lips Sherlock eyes flickered up for a moment before opening wide, a grin spreading across his face, causing him to look, well a little mad John thought.

"Bees!" Sherlock exclaimed.

"Bees." John repeated.

"Yes. Rather fascinating creatures, Bees." Sherlock supplied. "Did you know they can dance?"

"No… no I didn't…" John said, feeling himself begin to smile at the exuberant expression on the other boys face.

"Well they can." Came Sherlock's smug reply, before he suddenly sat up straight, pulling his bag from the floor beside him and hurling it onto his desk with an impressive thud.

"Here, I have a book all about it from the library…" Sherlock said as he unzipped the dark bag and began riffling through an assortment of papers, books, notebooks, pens and pencils riffling about amongst.

"I see.." John spoke, eyes twitching slightly at the sight of the bag.

"This one." Pulling from the jumble a hefty weight of a book and handing it to John, Sherlock grinned triumphantly. "You can borrow it, they don't know I have it anyway."

"What do you mean?"

Sherlock's reply was cut off by the sharp ringing of a bell that echoed around the room signalling the end of home room.

As everyone began to stand, Mrs Hudson stood from her desk and moved to the back of the room, smiling at John.

"Lovely, I see you have made friends already!"

John glanced at Mike, who beamed back at him, then at Sherlock, who still looked in a daze thinking about bees and felt himself nodding in acknowledgement.

"I guess so…" John supplied.

"Excellent. Well, Sherlock, Mike, I trust you will both help John find his classes and show him around, keep him safe."

Mike bobbed his head in agreement, hefting his bag onto his back.

Sherlock, however, gave Mrs Hudson a bored look, shrugging noncommittally.

Smiling to herself, Mrs Hudson tottered off back to her desk.

"What do you have now?" Mike asked, leaning over to look at the timetable John had pulled from his pocket where he'd scrunched it into earlier.

"English." John replied.

"Ah, lucky. I have maths." Mike grinned. "Don't mind it though, I'm pretty smart you see."

John smiled at him before turning to Sherlock. "What do you have?" he asked.

Sherlock paused from trying to heft his lug of a bag onto his back, frowning in thought.

"English, I suppose. It's been a while since I've been…" Sherlock mused to himself, staring off out the window before nodding to himself. "I will take you then. See where they are up to."

Mike chortled, smiling at John's confused expression.

"That's Sherlock… Only goes to class when it suits him. Spend the rest of your time in the library, or the science room don't you?"

Sherlock fixed Mike with a steely glare.

"When the plebeians the system insists on hiring to supply my tutelage finally decides to teach me _useful _knowledge, I will grace them with my presence. Until then, I will avoid their senseless chatter and do myself a favour and teach myself."

John couldn't help but laugh along with Mike at that.

"Right." John muttered, earning a part of Sherlock's glare.

John shrugged. "Shall we go?"

Muttering under his breath Sherlock lead the way. John gave Mrs Hudson a smile as they left the room heading along the landing to the top of the stairs that John had earlier climbed, nerves rising with each step.

Now, he didn't know what he had been afraid of.

"Do you know," Sherlock said, glancing back over his shoulder as he began the decent. "There are seventeen steps to our home room."

"I didn't know." John replied.

"Of course you didn't." Sherlock quipped. "If you'd observed earlier, you would have."

"I see." John said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, you _see_ but you do not _observe_." Sherlock retorted, jumping down from the second last step, turning to face John. He smiled slightly at Johns scowl.

"Well I know now don't I?" John said. "Seventeen steps and bee's dance!"

"Indeed." Sherlock said, turning once more to walk alongside John, Mike behind them.

"This is me." Mike spoke up, stopping in front of a closed door. "I'll see you at lunch John!"

"Yeah, later Mike." John grinned, Sherlock just kept walking.

Hurrying to catch up, John glanced at the boy beside him. He wore black dress pants with black and white converse shoes and a dark purple button up shirt that wasn't done up at the top. His messy hair fell over his face, which was narrow and jutting in its features. He was pale and incredibly skinny.

Honestly, he made John feel average in appearance… Terribly so.

"So… Sherlock," John began, meeting the boys eyes and feeling a slight flip in his stomach at the contact. "Tell me more about bees?"

Sherlock's face fell for a moment, once more turning analytical as he mulled the question before his lips quirked, smiling and his eyes crinkled excitedly at John.

"Well, the most fascinating aspect would be the segregation of the queen…"

John couldn't help but smile, listening to Sherlock talk.

Apparently moving back to London and going to Baker Street Academy wouldn't be all bad, John mused.

Well, at least he wouldn't be bored.

* * *

A/N: I was sitting in bed and had a tantalising thought: Sherlock and John AU at _school_. Ermigosh.  
Of course it's been done before. I just haven't read it and though I'm sure it's not hard to find its so TEMPTING to write it myself so I can read a bit of what I want… I also love the idea of back and forth-ing this with Sammet. Dear, let's get a bit lost in this cracky headspace shall we….?

The Cover Art is NOT mine, it is from [The British Teapot Tumblr]. Bloody fantastic artist!

Chapter two: Bee's are cool


End file.
